Tall cliffs , deep piss . It ’s one of the comfortable ways you could be risking your life story this very weekend . Here ’s how and why from one of the play ’s direct malefactor .
Full Disclosure : I ’m a full-grown Fraidy Cat and wo n’t go off anything over about 20 foot and , even then , only when the ribbing from friends give fever pitch .
In certain circles here in Los Angeles , a guy that goes by “ Throb ” is a flake of a fable . He runsLA Swimmin , a web site that fills Facebook feed with video after video of beer bellies fall from the sky . I first heard about him shortly after I moved here and some Friend started talk about sound jump at Tar Creek . They draw in up videos and attention was immediately called to a death - hold 70 - pedestrian — the landing place zone nothing but a little pothole in the rocks at the bottom . It terrified me .
“ Do n’t vex , ” the friends said . “ That ’s just Throb doing his matter . We wo n’t be going off that one . ”
Turns out his real name is Jeff Edwards and here he is in his own speech .
IW : How ’d you get into jumping ?
Jeff : “ I was take for a graduate degree at Art Center in Pasadena when I got into a drain railroad car accident . I was in the hospital for calendar month and was told I would never take the air again . A year later , I was able to do just that and started camp out and hiking to aid regain my strength and sanity . My friend Brett read me cliff jumping . Stony Creek , The Devil ’s Slide , Fish Camp Falls . We identify places not many people knew about , and we jumped all of them . ”
IW : What possessed you to jump off a drop-off ?
Jeff : “ I ’ve always been into extreme sports , I live for that adrenaline rush . Skateboards , bungee jump , rock climbing , whatever . But , it all be money . With student loans and medical bills piling up , I could n’t do that material anymore . Cliff jumping is detached . Anyone of any age can do it . ”
What ’s IndefinitelyWild ?
IW : Is there organization or a movement attached to it ?
Jeff : “ People have been cliff leap since the sunrise of meter . Until recently , the young man of the Supai tribe in Arizona used cliff leap as a rite of passage . It ’s a way of raise to yourself and others that you could subdue your care . Since the arriver of YouTube and societal medium , cliff jumping has plow into a small subculture and is growing large every day . ”
Havasu Falls , a pop jumping spot in Supai , AZ .
“ Like any other subculture , it has its origins . Swimming and gamy dive are its parents . imbibing and smoke weed are its creepy uncles . What we do at LA Swimmin is create cliff jumping effect and invite everyone . We camp out , we party , we have a blast but , at the same clip , we crowd a stewardship agenda . We ’re the ace with the trash pocketbook yelling at people who institute looking glass nursing bottle . We nibble up every bit of trash we can find and paint over all the graffiti . We want these post to be around for a while . ”
IW : What makes an idealistic jump spot ?
Jeff : “ An ideal drop jumping location would be far enough forth that the cops would n’t require to hike in , the water system want to be at least eight foot abstruse , but preferably more , and the drop-off should be 20 to 50 foot high . With anything above 50 , people can get hurt pretty bad . Those are where the disturbed dickhead happens . ”
IW : What ’s the gnarliest jump you ’ve ever done ?
Jeff : “ The top of Red Rock along the Santa Ynez River near Santa Barbara . At 90 fundament , it was definitely the biggest jump I ever did , but what made it super sketchy was the flatus float , round-the-clock , the intact time . When I jumped , I got thrown off center and hit the piss hard enough to check a few ribs . I recede my curt term retention for about an 60 minutes and my girlfriend at the time was really worried . I recovered , but I wo n’t jump that cliff again and I warn others not to . Yet every year , some tyke make an ambulance ride doing just that . ”
IW : Is it just a lot of hippies ?
Jeff : “ We get all kinds of the great unwashed showing up at our consequence and do n’t turn out anyone except No Moms Allowed ! Yeah , it ’s mostly a unseasoned crew that love to be outdoors and dynamic and like to party . We are definitely not the cool kids . If you look at Red Bull Cliff Diving as the vert skating , then we ’re the ditch and backyard pocket billiards skaters . Total foreigner . ”
IW : If someone thinks this sound neat , how should they get started ?
Jeff : “ If you have never stand out off a drop before , you should depart pocket-sized . Find a drop-off about 20 feet tall , swim around in the water and ensure it is thick enough . Be extra careful and calculate for overwhelm rock’n’roll or other obstacles . remain firm on top of the drop , pore on the topographic point you want to set down , pound a beer and parachuting ! ”
IW : What guard rules do you accompany that keep you animated ?
Jeff : “ I always ascertain body of water depth for myself . That is the most important affair to do . If it ’s a little shoal , I ’ll cannonball rather than go feet first ; it ’s better to bust your fucking than shatter an mortise joint . You want at least eight feet of body of water , adding an additional two feet of profoundness for ever 10 - metrical foot amplification in cliff height . Also , I do n’t jump anything over 70 feet these day , I ’m getting older and thing are just injure more . ”
IW : Ever seen someone get hurt ?
Jeff : “ Just the other workweek , my really good friend Jarrod broke his mortise joint at Arroyo Seco . He thumb a vast 50 - foundation cliff and landed a small closelipped to the shallow ending and broke some bones . He still climbed back up , flipped one more fourth dimension and then hiked the two miles back to the car . ”
“ People die all the clock time . Last year , a kid died at Hermit Falls , the year before that someone ate it at Upper Eaton Canyon and the year before that someone at Ringda Dam in Malibu . Most of the time , it ’s either because they did n’t check the water depth or are jump from gamy than they ’ve done before , just to print their friends . Deaths happen when people , hit the piss , gasp for air and swallow water . They get knock out and they overwhelm . ”
IW : What about the bull ?
Jeff : “ commando are our deadly opposition . Even though we scavenge up other people ’s messes preach stewardship and paint over graffiti , we still get harassed by The Man . They write us tickets for drinking and weed possession and essentially detest us for have a in force time . I ’m sure they see it the other way around though . ”
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